This presentation gives an overview of aquaculture feed production and related issues in Vietnam.

Approximately 90% of aquaculture produce in Thailand are fed with a complete commercial feed. The Department of Fisheries is responsible for the licensing and registration of feed to be sold for commercial purposes. High quality fishmeal is a priority for aquaculture feed production especially for shrimp and marine fish and this has significantly affected feed cost. Most agricultural by-products are already utilised for purposes such as livestock, pet foods, fertilisers and biofuels, so competition for alternative ingredients is high.

Olive flounder and Korean rockfish make up over 60% out of total finfish production. However, marine fish culture heavily relies on farm-made feed. Although the Korean government has made various attempts to promote sustainable aquaculture, most farmers still prefer to use raw fish-based frozen pellets to compounded feed. To secure the sustainable growth of domestic aquaculture and feed production, the Korean government needs to press on with policy enforcement andresearch and development to provide low-priced compounded feeds.

Aquaculture has become an important sector in terms of its potential for increasing domestic supply of quality protein in Pakistan. Promising prospects exist for further growth in carp production due to high profitability and because there are about 2 million hectares of freshwater bodies (lakes, reservoirs and rivers) suitable for aquaculture. Fish farming in Pakistan is operating on an extensive or limited semi-intensive level and use of artificial feeds is limited, only having been introduced as a practice recently.

In mountain and hilly regions rainbow trout is the main fish species cultivated whereas carps, tilapia and pangasius are cultivated in the inner terai and terai region. Around 12,000 tonnes of pellet feed is used in aquaculture, of which about one third is imported from India. Around 60% of carps are fed with pellets or homemade feed. Around 40% of carp farmers, mainly small-scale, do not use any types of artificial feed but rely upon natural productivity of ponds.